My wife and I cruised on Carnival because it was the only line out of Galveston on the dates we wanted. We have previously cruised 2 times on Royal Caribbean. One of those was this same basic trip, but a seven day on the Rhapsody of the Seas.

Overall, we had a good time. The ports were fun and the weather was great; calm seas. Our problems are 75% ship specific and 25% Cruise Line specific.

First, the good parts of the Ecstasy: The staff was very nice and tried to provide good service; Otherwise, unless I discuss it below, the trip was as we expected and met our expectations. Read more